Catching Up
by Mephilia Venus
Summary: Being trapped by a storm under an old tree in the park wound up having many more advantages than either Miki or Setsuna would have originally imagined.


**Because this archive doesn't have enough in terms of Miki/Setsuna cuteness, and I decided to fix that. Let's say this is about two years after the Fresh finale?**

"This isn't perfect at all," Miki pouted from under the umbrella she and Setsuna were now awkwardly sharing. As if to mock them even more, the wind changed, so that the rain (which was already coming down in sheets) now began to blow directly into their faces. "Ack, let's run for it!"

Fortunately, they had made it to the same block as the park when Setsuna's umbrella had been blown out of her hands. Taking shelter under the trees, the two girls stopped to catch their breath. "We have to be the only ones insane enough to still be outside," Setsuna remarked, looking out into the downpour.

"Good thing, because we're both soaked. My mother is going to throw a fit when she sees what my hair probably looks like!" Miki laughed.

"It's not that bad," Setsuna giggled. "Our plans for today, on the other hand, might have to be changed."

Miki closed her dark blue umbrella and crossed her arms. "It just figures though, the one time we decide to walk to Main Street instead of taking the bus is the one time it starts to rain so hard we can't see five feet in front of us."

"It's true, we never get storms this bad in Labyrinth," Setsuna said. "In fact, I think the last time I saw this much rain was when I first became Cure Passion..." Her voice trailed off, and Miki remembered as well that awful minute where all three of them had thought Eas to be dead. Enemy at that time or not, none of them had gone looking for her with that end in mind. Of course, none of them had suspected the silver-haired denizen of Labyrinth to be their missing fourth Pretty Cure either.

Wrapping Setsuna in a hug from behind, Miki pulled her back into the small shelter the old tree provided them. "Hey, you've said it yourself: what's in the past is in the past. And if you hadn't become Cure Passion, odds are I never would have gotten to know the real you."

Setsuna closed her eyes and sighed. "Yeah, you're right." Straightening up, she smiled, "Well, this will at least give us an excuse to pay Kaoru a visit, assuming he hasn't closed up due to the weather."

Miki raised an eyebrow. "Kaoru, close over a little rainstorm like this? Never! It would take nothing short of a large-scale typhoon before he would even consider leaving his lot before five PM!"

Setsuna laughed. "Glad to hear he hasn't changed!" Stopping to think for a moment, she asked, "What about Miyuki? Do you, Love, and Inori still take dance lessons from her?"

The model frowned. "Nah, it wasn't the same without you. And besides, now that Trinity is touring around Japan, we can really only keep in touch with her through either webcam or Daisuke. Although I think they're performing in Kibougahana this weekend, and knowing Erika-chan, she'll probably drag Tsubomi-chan there with her. I can tell Miyuki to keep an eye out for them."

"It's good that all the Pretty Cure teams from around Japan are still keeping in touch," Setsuna murmured. "Which reminds me, I promised Ellen-chan I would write her the next time I was back on Earth. Would you mind if I took care of that once we get back to your house?"

"Assuming we do," Miki groaned. "Unless the storm lets up soon, we might be stuck here all afternoon."

Setsuna held the other girl a bit closer to her. "I wouldn't necessarily mind that."

Miki blinked, then let herself relax into the purple-haired girl's grip. They both sat down, Miki silently grateful the protective branches of the tree had kept the grass beneath them relatively dry. She pulled off her sweatshirt and wrapped it around a shivering Setsuna, thankful her own tank top had been spared the worst of the rain. "Are there any other of our old friends you wanted to catch up on?"

Setsuna rested her head against the taller girl's shoulder while she thought for a moment. "What about Love and Daisuke? Have they made any progress at all?"

"Good news on that front for once!" Miki said. "After about the hundredth time he asked her out since we won that dance contest right before you left, she finally agreed to go to a Trinity concert with him last month, of all things! I remember her justifying it by saying that Miyuki had promised them two front-row seats."

"That does sound like Love," Setsuna chuckled. "And what about Inori? Didn't you tell me last time I came that she's working as an intern at her parents' clinic?"

"Yeah, they actually gave her a full-time job helping the animals that need physical therapy after surgery. _And _she's learning English so she can go to veterinary school in America once she graduates, _and _she's on the student council at her school, _and _she's taking college-level science courses!" Miki thought for a moment. "I could be her image consultant if she decided to run for student council president this year!"

"Wow, you wouldn't think it's the same Inori from when she first became a Pretty Cure." Setsuna's voice softened. "Has anything else happened over the past year I should know about?" Was it just Miki, or was there a touch of bitterness in the purple-haired girl's voice?

"What's wrong?" Miki asked, putting an arm around Setsuna's shoulder.

The other girl sighed. "It's just... every time I come back to Earth, part of me is almost scared to. I don't want to face how much can change in a year, and just one week to catch up with all of my old friends feels more like a tease than anything else. And..."

Miki turned Setsuna's face towards hers. "And?"

Setsuna looked away. "No, it's nothing."

"Come on, what is it? I care about your worries. We all do," Miki reassured her.

Was that a blush creeping up to Setsuna's cheeks? "I worry that..." She began to tremble. "I worry that you might meet someone else! That you'll realize holding out all year for a girlfriend you'll get to see for one week is hopeless, because we're barely making it work as it is! I worry that you might change so much I barely recognize you, or maybe you'll be modelling in another city one year and we won't see each other at all, or maybe maybe maybe!" She looked down, gasping and shuddering, but not before Miki saw tears falling down the red Pretty Cure's cheeks.

Resting her hand on Setsuna's shoulder, Miki sighed. "You think I don't have those exact same worries too?" Setsuna looked back into Miki's eyes, her own wide, and in that moment, Miki kissed her before she could break away from their embrace.

She felt Setsuna's gasp, worried she had been too sudden, and relaxed as Setsuna returned the kiss with just as much passion. They leaned into each other, and stayed that way for several seconds before breaking apart. "For one thing," Miki panted, "nobody else's kisses could ever make me feel the way you just did." She rested Setsuna's head in her lap, running her fingers though the girl's dark purple hair. "And I'll wait for as long as it takes for you to realize that I love you."

Setsuna tensed. "You... you love me?"

"Yes," Miki assured her. "And that doesn't change, no matter where either one of us may be." She leaned down, and their lips met once more. When they finally ended the kiss, Miki looked out towards the street. "Oh, the rain is stopping! Do you still want to go shopping?"

Setsuna sat up and shook her head. "Actually, I need to go back to Labyrinth."

Miki was confused now, and just a little bit hurt. "What, was my confession that cliche?"

"No, not at all," Setsuna laughed. "It's just that Westar and Soular will probably appreciate knowing that I'll be taking a little longer than a week off. We feel that Labyrinth has recovered well enough to where it's self-sufficient. Who knows, perhaps I'll just stay on Earth... indefinitely."

Happiness, along with a touch of relief, swelled up inside of Miki. "If Love wouldn't have a problem with it, you could stay with me this time."

Setsuna smiled. "That, I definitely wouldn't mind." They kissed one more time, then walked out from under the tree into the sunlit afternoon.


End file.
